My family went to Europe this summer! Going to Switzerland with my 5 year old and 13 month old was NOT on my Bingo card, but here we are. We DID IT! My husband graduated from his MBA program at Yale in May with one last requirement, he had to complete his “international studies” portion to receive his diploma. He postponed the program when our son was born the year prior. We had a choice, either my husband left the family for a week to attend his international program, OR we could make it a family trip and stay for two weeks. We chose the later 😉
I was very nervous about such a huge trip while being by myself for half of it. So, we recruited help! My best friend that I’ve known most of my life decided to join us! It was also her Birthday during the trip so we figured it would be memorable to celebrate overseas. I’m beyond grateful she came since it made a potentially stressful situation for me into an enjoyable trip. Read on to find out all about Traveling to Lausanne Switzerland with Young Kids and stay tuned to read all about week two in Montreux!
Travel Day
When we planned this trip we decided that we wanted lie-flat overnight seats to get there. We went with AirCanada. I had never flown business class so I was excited to see what it was all about, though apprehensive about how our baby would do. What I hadn’t been worried about was how tight our connection between our first leg (US – Montreal Cananda) to our second leg (long haul flight to Montreal -Geneva) would be. We realized when our flight leaving the US was delayed that there was a very real possibility that we would miss our Geneva flight. So we stressed and hoped that by some miracle we would make our flight.
Long Haul Flight
As it turns out, even if our Montreal flight had been on time there was no way we would have made it to the Geneva flight. It was too tight of a connection and going between customs and whatnot was crazy. BUT our Geneva flight was very delayed, and kept being more delayed. SO we did make it! It was a blessing and a curse because we left so much later and everyone was exhausted. We made our flight though, so that was the ultimate goal. My 5 year old ran around and played on a playground they had right by our gate in Montreal. It’s really amazing how these international destinations really think about kids. We encountered so many great playgrounds and activities for our kids on this trip!
Finally, we got to board the plane. I had gotten the baby to fall asleep on me with a very loud portable sound machine held near his head. It had to be loud to block out all the sounds around us. Though it was apparently too loud and I was told I had to turn it down by the flight attendant once we boarded the flight (which was fine). What bothered me was that they eventually told me I had to turn it off completely (which I’ve never been told before when flying). So I was pretty irate about the situation but complied.
The rest of the flight I just tried to rest while being stressed that my baby might wake up with all the announcements and whatnot that goes on. Needless to say it was a pretty awful night for me, even though the seats were probably comfortable for most people. I really felt like the staff I encountered were rude and not what I was expecting especially in business class.
The food was okay, though I felt really sick in the morning. It might have been something I ate, or just nerves and lack of sleep, but my body was done and I had to hand the baby over to my husband as we landed. Luckily the baby slept okay on the flight, he never woke up screaming during the night. He was a champ! I on the other hand have lately been having mild panic attacks while flying, especially while landing. Once we started to land I went into anxiety land, though tried to breathe through it. Panic attacks are really the worst, and I have no clue why flying (especially landing) throws me into them. It’s definitely something I’m working on because I need to fly! Not flying is NOT an option for me.
Landing
Once we landed we freshened up and got our luggage. My husband had signed up for a “limo service” (which was a van) to pick us up and bring us to our hotel in Lausanne. We ended up loving the convenience of the limo service that we used them several times during our vacation. It was great! Switzerland has AMAZING public transportation via buses and trains. I imagine it would have been easy to use a less pricey option, but with all of our gear for the baby I’m happy we didn’t have to think about it.
Hotel
Our hotel was Hotel Mirabeau Lausanne, and it was PERFECT. I was nervous about how the hotel would be and the room layout. They put us in a large room with a connecting room. My husband and older son and I slept in the large room with a rollaway bed. They even had a crib set up for our younger son, but we ended not needing it. He stayed in the connecting room with my friend in our Pack’n’Play with Slumberpod over it. He is used to sleeping in that set up so I didn’t want to change anything. It worked well!
Hotel Impressions
It was so nice to have the two rooms so when baby was sleeping we could be in the other room with the baby monitor. It was a quiet hotel and very clean. We had our included breakfast each morning downstairs with the best waitstaff! One of the ladies remembered us each day and had out drinks ready to go. It was almost like being on a Disney cruise, bliss! We really enjoyed our breakfast time together and the kids loved the routine.
Location and Transportation
The location was perfect, close to transportation (buses, train and metro rail). We were given a free transportation card from the hotel for the length of our stay. Thus we could use all the local transport for free. We did have to pay for the ferry boat, but overall getting around was a breeze. Everyone walks everywhere in Lausanne and uses public transportation. It was so cool to see such a well developed and utilized system!
Amenities
The hotel had a few separate spaces for drinking and eating. The main restaurant was open for dinner, and the included breakfast meal. There was a gorgeous patio that you could dine in as well for dinner. There was also a bar area for just drinks. It was tough because most restaurants (including the hotel’s) open at 6 or 6:30 pm. This was hard because we put the kids down for bed at 7 or 7:30 pm. So we never got to experience dinner at the hotel.
They also have a nice gym on the bottom floor of the hotel. I actually ran there several times and the kids would go down there to burn off some steam during the day. I never saw anyone else down there, so it was very private. Hot tip, they had nice clean filtered water there! We used it daily to fill our water bottles up.
Dining
Grocery Stores
We were located in a great area near several grocery stores. We went to both Coop and Migros. Our baby was still drinking a fair amount of milk, so we had to stay stocked! The quality of the food was fantastic and the produce was excellent. We really enjoyed shopping and grabbing food for the kids (and adults!). We were able to buy peanut butter and bread for sandwiches and some baby food pouches for snacks, and also diapers, which was a lifesaver!
Dining
Like I said before, we really struggled with dinners on this trip. The kids needed to eat around 5 or 530 pm, and most dinner restaurants didn’t open until later. So we ended up ordering out a lot from wherever we could find that was open! Most of the places were more lunch joints, though we did eat at Black Tap Singles and Doubles. Black Tap is an American chain, but the kids wanted familiar food, and we really enjoyed our meal. Pretty much any place that offered chicken nuggets was a huge win in our books.
We did try some Lebanese food, which were plentiful in Lausanne. Kaake was our favorite (which was open when we wanted to eat), so that was a good find! We also had lunch one day at Chez Arthur- Creperie Bretonne, which was excellent! The cider was so tasty and the service was top-notch! The the food was so fresh and delicious, which is apparently a common thread among Swiss cuisine!
Parks
Since we were traveling with kiddos, we were always on the hunt for the best parks! The best park we visited was about a ten minute walk from our hotel called the Parc de Mon Repos. It was such a lovely green space and had so much to offer! There were walking paths, historic buildings, two huge aviary cages with all kinds of birds, and a really awesome and shaded playground! We visited a few times and I was just in love. I would be a frequent visitor if I lived in Lausanne!
Also, we visited the Promenade Derriere- Bourg (by accident really). We were hiking our way up a large amount of stairs when we saw this little park. My son loved the break to play before we headed to dinner. I wish we had more time to explore because it looked like a really pretty place for a nice walk.
Another park we frequented was by the Carrousel d’Ouchy and the pier. It’s a huge wooden structure that was always busy with kids. We let my son play on it a few times since we couldn’t really walk past it without him begging to play. The waterfront is gorgeous right on Lake Geneva. There is a carrousel there, but it only takes cash, so we never rode it. That area by the water is just brimming with things to do and I wish we had another day to explore, rent a kayak, enjoy a cafe, or eat more tasty gelato!
Outings
As far as our outings of the trip, we did WAY more than I thought we would! I thought I would be a nervous wreck and never leave the hotel while my husband was in class, but luckily my bestie made sure we got out and explored. We visited the AQUATIS Aquarium- Vivarium, the Lausanne Cathedral, the Olympic Museum, and rode a ferry across Lake Geneva to France (but did not get off the boat). We were on a fairly tight nap schedule with my baby taking two naps a day, and it was so hot we didn’t really want to be out for long periods of time. So we would go out in the afternoon (between naps) eat lunch on the go, and see as much as we could!
Aquarium
Each outing was so fun, and I don’t really have a favorite. I would say the Aquarium was the least “special to Switzerland” outing. That is just it’s an aquarium, and you probably have been to a better one in your life. BUT seeing my kids, especially my one year olds eyes light up watching the fish and pointing and saying “turtle” just melted my heart. Plus, my son got an oversized eel stuffie, which was a crazy purchase, but the kids loved it too much to pass up.
Cathedral
The cathedral was gorgeous and totally worth checking out. My older son wanted to go up the bell tower, so we ended up having to wait a bit for the ticket office to open. We ended up going to the Lausanne History museum across the street. This museum was interesting, and if you don’t have kids probably really cool to read all about the city. My kids weren’t super into it, and I got a little lost in there (I have. no clue how because it’s not that big) which freaked me out. Thus, it wasn’t my favorite place. The cathedral bell tower was a fun activity, and my son felt like a champ going up the stairs to look out onto the city. It wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be and we were fine making the climb. Plus, we loved the views!
Olympic Museum
The outing I was MOST looking forward to was the Olympic Museum! I love that the city of Lausanne is the capitol of the Olympics. It hosts a great modern museum with areas for kids to get active inside and out. I even “raced” my son on the little track out front. I would have loved to spend a little more time there, but I feel like we got a good sense of it within the few hours we were there.
We did miss the medal room, but my husband went with his class a day after us and took some pictures for me! I loved seeing the torches, they were all so different for each game. The bottom floor was a more interactive experience that tried to get you involved with learning as you walked through different immersive experiences. I was a little confused in one of the rooms with an “arcade” theme that said you couldn’t touch the arcade game. That seemed like a missed opportunity. Overall, each area of the museum offered something different to explore and we really enjoyed it!
Ferry Ride
Another outing I was excited about was riding the ferry across Lake Geneva. It turned out that when we were in Lausanne the G7 Summit was happening across the lake in Evian-les-Bains France. Thus, you couldn’t even get off the boat there unless you were attending the summit. In fact our boat went to the port next to the usual Evian one due to the strict security surrounding the summit. It was a bit of a bummer because I would have loved to see Evian-les-Bains, I hear it’s gorgeous. But alas, we will have to come back another day! The ferry itself was a nice ride and the kids loved it.
There was another ferry you can take that is a historical steam boat, which would have been cool to see! Though, it would have also been super crowded (we saw it later in the trip cruising the lake). Honestly though, we ended up with a modern ferry that gave us plenty of room to explore and not feel cramped. So it really was a win. We stayed on the ferry since we had to get back for nap time, which worked out wonderfully!
Overall Thoughts
This first part of our trip spanned Saturday to Saturday in June, which was a great amount of time to see SO many things! We loved almost everything about this first part of our journey from the outings, the hotel room, to the parks and our hotel’s location.
The only things that were small bummers were the staff on the long haul flight, the time of dinner for the Swiss (doesn’t jive with our kiddos), and the cleaning staff at the hotel not always throwing out all of our trash. I will admit we made A LOT of trash, and I definitely feel like the Swiss judged us “wasteful Americans”. BUT, we had a baby who drank milk (we tossed a lot of milk cartons) and used diapers. So that alone made tons of trash. Plus, we ate in the room with take-out boxes for many dinners. So yes, we had trash, but I still think they should have taken it all out each time. My friend ended up finding a dumpster nearby and tossing our stuff there a few times which isn’t something you want to do on your vacation!
Other than those few hiccups, most things went very smoothly. We used public transportation, had tasty food, saw lots of interesting things, and played around at some cool parks! Not to foreshadow too much but, one thing I took for granted in the hotel was the AC. Stay tuned for part two of our Switzerland adventure with kids for the more dramatic portion of the trip. This is where things got hard in unexpected ways, but we were still able to find joy. =) I highly recommend visiting Lausanne Switzerland with kids! It is a great city and both my husband and friend said they want to live there! 
High praise for a very cool and family friendly city!
Check out our post on another international trip in “10 Fantastic Things to do on Your Dublin Vacation“!
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